I LOVE the thrill of a brand new book coming out. A new story to sweep you away. New characters to friend. And when the book is by a new author, a new voice to fall in love with, it’s all the more special. So, as part of my New Year wishes, I wanted to do something special for new books.

I’ve been wanting to celebrate book launches for a while, but a lot of book fans do wonderful posts around new books, with interviews and reviews, so I wanted to do something different. Something fun. I just couldn’t think of anything.

Then, like most of my best ideas, I got a spark one night when I was lying in bed and couldn’t sleep: What if the book’s birthday had a party that everyone could attend? What if there was music and food and games? And what if it was all related to the book’s story so we could party with the characters?

Each Book Birthday Bash celebrates the release of a single book with a virtual party. There’s music, games, food and party favors. Some parties even have a fun giveaway, but they will all let you have fun with the story. Exciting, huh?!

Attend all the Book Birthday Bashes to party with new books and for a chance to win fun prizes.

The first Book Birthday Bash will be tomorrow (Jan. 2), celebrating Lyndsay Ely‘s young-adult novel GUNSLINGER GIRL, then on Jan. 9, we’ll have a party for Jackie Yeager‘s middle-grade novel SPIN THE GOLDEN LIGHT BULB. Check this page on those dates to attend the parties.

If you’re an author with a kidlit book (picture books through young adult) coming out and you’d like to have a Book Birthday Bash for your book, fill out this form. Make sure you fill it out at least a month before your launch so I can get it setup and in my enewsletter for your book’s birthday.

Happy happy birthdays to all the amazing books coming out in 2018! I can’t wait to read them.